Magnets
by sparrow45
Summary: Steve thinks about Bucky's transition to Avenger's tower. Inspired by Meekobits' art.


**Steve came up from the gym to the main floor of the Avengers tower one morning to find the tower completely empty. This normally wouldn't worry him, but since Bucky had moved in three weeks ago, it did. Bucky never left the tower. Maybe he was hiding somewhere, Steve reasoned. He figured he could always ask Jarvis where Bucky was, but he also knew Jarvis would tell him if his friend was in trouble. If Bucky wanted to be alone, he had that right. Life in the tower had changed since the Winter Soldier had arrived. Steve sometimes wondered if anyone resented having to live with him. Tony might, especially after what happened when he had offered to recalibrate Bucky's metal arm. Bucky had been willing enough to let Stark help. "It won't hurt a bit." The genius had promised as he pulled Bucky down to his lab. Steve had trailed behind, somewhat curious to see what adjustments the eccentric billionaire might suggest. **

**"****I mean, obviously you have have some kind of neural sensitivity, otherwise you'd crush everything you touch, but what I want to know…" Stark had babbled on and on as he settled Bucky into a chair by his workbench and gathered his tools. When he turned back around he frowned at Bucky's clenched fists and measured breaths.**

**"****We don't have to do this now." Tony offered. **

**"****No. I'm fine, I can do it." Bucky assured him stoically.**

**Everything was going just fine, Tony had almost finished (though Bucky had his eyes squeezed shut the entire time). Then Dummy had moved and poked Bucky's real arm. The metal fist Tony had been working on shot out, crushing the poor robot's cybernetics in his fingers. Tony cursed, long and loud, as Steve tried his best to calm Bucky. Blue sparks flew from Bucky's prosthetic where Tony had been repairing it, lighting up his blank eyes.**

**"****It's okay, Buck, I'm here. No one is going to hurt you. Bucky, it's me, Steve. You're alright. You're safe." Steve kept up the litany of soothing words until the blank look left Bucky's eyes and he blinked in confusion, the metal fingers loosening their grip. He took a deep, shuddering breath and lowered his head, muttering an "I'm sorry" from under his mop of hair. **

**"****Hey, it's no problem. I was meaning to upgrade Dummy anyways. Better him than my pretty face, right?" Tony grinned. **

**Even though the genius had brushed it off, Steve knew he had never forgotten the incident. And he also noticed the way Tony stared at the metal arm. Then again, Stark didn't really like anybody, so he wasn't the best example. **

**Steve made his way to the kitchen, opening the fridge for a drink and he remembered Clint's first meeting with Bucky. Hawkeye had gotten home late from a mission and missed Bucky's arrival. As he sometimes did, Clint had crawled into the vents and disappeared before anyone could find him. The next morning everyone had gathered in the kitchen for breakfast and Bucky was poking suspiciously at the omelet Bruce had placed in front of him when Clint had dropped from the ceiling tiles and landed next to the table. Bucky had instantly tackled him, yelling in Russian, and wrapped his hands around Clint's neck. The room had exploded, everyone yelling at Bucky and trying to pull him off of Clint. Steve knew the noise was just confusing Bucky further, but Clint's face was turning purple and he was making a horrid choking sound as he tried in vain to pull the Winter Soldier's fingers from his throat. In the end, it was Natasha who saved the day. She carefully knelt next to Bucky and murmured in Russian in his ear. Bucky's head swung around to face her and he mumbled back. She nodded and Bucky looked back down at Clint as if he was considering her words before he let go and stood up. Clint gasped and wheezed for breath before he sat up, rubbing his neck. "Nice to meet you, I'm Clint." he rasped. Bucky's eyes widened in horror and he fled the room before anyone could stop him. **

**Clint made alot of jokes now about the mistake, trying to ease the tension with humour, as he always did. But Steve knew he would never truly forgive Bucky for what he did to Natasha. **

**Actually, Steve had been impressed by the Black Widow's civility towards Bucky. In fact, she got along with him more than almost anyone. She was always willing to supply the Russian translation when Bucky's vocabulary failed and she was very helpful whenever he had an episode. Though, she had never had to use 'cognitive recalibration' on him. But the shoe had to drop at some point since Bucky didn't actually remember her. And then suddenly he did. Bucky's memories were always painful when they returned. The entire team, minus Thor, plus Sam, had gathered for a movie night. Bucky and Natasha shared one of the three couches, Tony, Sam and Steve sat on another and Bruce and Clint shared the third. Tony had chosen Jason Bourne for the movie. For some reason he thought it would be funny. And it was. Clint and Natasha laughed through the whole thing, commenting to Bucky in Russian, and they actually managed to get a chuckle out of him every once in a while. Sam muttered fondly about communists and even Bruce smiled. It was a good night. Until the scene with the sniper and target next to the train suddenly froze, staring ahead, ramrod straight. Steve noticed first and nudged Tony who paused the movie.**

**"****Bucky?" Steve asked tentatively.**

**Bucky clutched at his head suddenly, yelling in pain. Natasha placed her hand on his shoulder, offering what support she could, but Bucky latched onto her wrist. Everyone froze, wondering and dreading what the Winter Soldier might do. But he just stared at the floor for a long minute, eyes flickering as the memories filled his head. Then he blinked, releasing Natasha and dropping his hand into his lap. Everyone was quiet, letting Bucky have his moment. Finally he raised his head and looked Natasha right in the eye. "I remember." He whispered, eyes filling with tears behind the curtain of his long hair. "I'm so sorry." **

**Natasha didn't say anything, just wrapped her arms around his shoulders as his breath hitched again in an effort to hold back the sobs. **

**"****You're not the only one with red in their ledger." She told him. **

**Now Steve wandered over to the window to watch the New York skyline. A flock of birds flew past the glass and Steve was reminded inexplicably of Sam. The ex soldier had helped so much with Bucky. He was over at the tower at least twice a week and he sometimes spent the night. Though he undoubtedly would get more sleep at home. Sam had requested, with Bucky's consent, for Jarvis to notify him if Bucky was having an episode or a nightmare. Which was often. Hydra had seventy years of torture for Bucky to dream about. He thrashed about and screamed in his sleep, waking confused and disoriented. Sam was trained to help and provide techniques for those suffering war related trauma, but he had his work cut out for him with Bucky. One night after Steve and Sam had successfully woken Bucky from a particularly nasty night terror, Bucky had pushed the strands of hair from his face and asked: "Why?" **

**"****Why what?" Sam asked from the armchair he had flopped into. **

**"****Why do you care? I've tried to kill you." He looked up at Steve and added "Both of you."**

**Sam thought for a minute before answering. "Because if it was me I would want someone to care. And everyone deserves a second chance."**

**"****You have no idea what I've done." Bucky growled. Steve was surprised by the venom in his voice. He was even more surprised when Sam snapped back.**

**"****I don't know? Are you for real? Does it even matter? Everyone in this room has done what you've done: We have all taken lives because we were ordered to and we have all lost someone because of it. Stow your self righteous crap for one second because you are not alone in this fight Bucky Barnes." Steve respected Sam so much after that and he knew Bucky did too. It wasn't easy to tell someone you considered a friend what they needed to hear, but Sam never backed down. Sometimes Steve felt guilty for dragging the guy into this mess. He had a life, he didn't need to be here dealing with someone else's crap. But he did and as far as Steve could tell, he did it willingly. **

**Steve took his drink into the living room, thinking about grabbing his book and curling up on the couch, when he stopped short. Bucky was sprawled on the sofa, a blanket haphazardly thrown over him, obviously asleep. His metal arm was hanging off the couch. And it was covered on magnets. Someone had attached little notes to Bucky's arm with magnets. Steve crept closer, curious as to why someone, probably Tony, would do that. As soon as he was close enough, Steve knelt and began reading. He was pleasantly surprised by what he read. In Tony's wide scribble: "Hey Terminator, rest easy. We are all rooting for you. P.S. Wake up soon. We want to have a Lord of the Rings marathon tonight."**

**Clint's square type read: " Remind me to take you and Cap to Barnes and Nobles. You old timers need an urban dictionary. Also, I challenge you to a Mario Kart race. I will beat you. The first time was beginner's luck."**

**From Natasha: "Ваша улыбка невероятно прекрасна. Вы должны делать это чаще."**

**And from Sam: "Cut your hair, you hippie. Just kidding. Stay strong, man."**

**Steve smiled and went to get a pen and a bit of paper. When he was finished he quietly attached a Brooklyn Dodgers magnet to it and stuck it to Bucky's elbow. It read "I'm with you to the end of the line."**

**Author's note: This piece was inspired by Meekobits' drawing. **

**The Russian translation from Google Translate is: "Your smile is incredibly lovely. You should do it more often."**


End file.
